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Osprey Elite Series no 120; (ed) Martin Windrow; (London, 2004)

ARCHERY AND THE BOW

A Chinese representation of a Mongolian horse archer. The archer is making the ubiquitous 'Parthian shot', a technique that was typical of all steppe mounted archers.

The bow

The bow is the oldest weapon or tool of more than one area─it is also the first human creation able to store and release energy. The principle of the bow, first used as early as 50,000 years ago, is simple enough in concept. If a supple branch is put under tension it will want to return to its normal position, and if released it will do so, using the energy that was originally expended in bending it. The outside curve (back) of a bow is under tensile stress, the inside curve (belly) under compressive stress, these stresses increasing as the bow is drawn. To harness these forces effectively ancient peoples had to carefully select the wood for the bow, create a string able to cope with the stresses involved, and develop a projectile that could be accurately propelled using the energy stored in the bow. For millennia nothing superseded the bow in effectiveness for hunting or warfare ─ and for a long time not much changed in bow technology. Until the development of the composite bow on the steppe of Central Asia most bows were a variation of the self-bow, a bow made of a single stave of wood.

The self-bow is the old standard, used from time immemorial, sometimes sinew-reinforced, or even laminated from strips of the same kind of wood, for extra strength. The famous English longbow (so-called because of its length of around 6ft, or more than 180cm) was typically made of yew. Yew has been a bow wood for millennia ─ the bow carried by the 5,000-year-old mummified man found in the European Alps in 1991 was 6ft long and made of yew, as are the bows recovered from bogs at Holmegaard in Denmark, dated around 6000 BC, and those found in 1979 on the medieval wreck of the Mary Rose. On the steppe lands of Central Asia there are no yew trees, in fact a general lack of any suitable trees, and so a different path was taken in bow development, focusing more on the combination of materials. This method of bow construction would give the steppe peoples an enormous technical advantage.

This pair of Magyar-period arrowheads, held in the Hungarian National Museum, show two of the many types of arrowheads used on the steppe, one barbed, and one forked for bird hunting. (Courtesy of Tamas Hortsin)

The composite bow may have originated as long ago as 1500 BC, perhaps considerably earlier ─ the bow remains from Angara, dated to the third millennium BC, are clearly bone and sinew reinforced. The first composite bow with bone reinforced 'ears', a major development, may have been used around Lake Baikal, c.500 BC. Despite many individual external differences, across the steppe, and across time, the composite bow would remain essentially uniform in construction method.

The composite bow is, as the name suggests, made of several different materials. Typically this could involve wood, horn, sinew, leather, bamboo, and antler. The wood or bamboo was used to create a lightweight frame or core on which to build the bow. The core itself did not need to be particularly strong, as it experiences minimal tension and compression, although a carefully selected grain was important to prevent warping during manufacture. For this reason it is thought that bamboo may have been most popular when available, as it has no grain and so does not warp. The wooden core, which was steamed into shape on a form, could be made of one or several pieces of material, often maple, birch, or mulberry. On one side of this wooden core or frame horn would be applied to form the belly of the bow.

Horn is an interesting substance, as the steppe bowyers discovered. First, it has great compressibility, at around 4% before yielding to the applied forces, or roughly 13kg per square millimetre. This is somewhat better than wood, which starts to give at 1% of compression. Horn also returns readily to its original shape once compression is released. Horn from a buffalo, long-horned cow, or ibex was chosen and shaved down to the desired size, then, in the case of long-horn cattle, steamed and pressed flat. Buffalo horn is naturally more flexible and resilient, and comes in longer strips, so would usually be the first choice. The horn and the wooden stave were deeply scored with a comb-like tool, to double the gluing surface, and after bonding one piece or several strips of horn to the wooden core using fish or hide glue, they were bound tightly together. The bow stave was braced in a curve the opposite of the completed bow, and the horn allowed to dry for two or more months. Next sinew was bonded to the back of the wooden stave.

Sinew from the hamstrings or back tendons of a cow or deer was applied in several layers, after being dried and pounded, and bonded using glue made from the swim bladders of fish or an adhesive obtained by boiling hide. Fish glue was preferred, being water resistant and elastic; also, glue from boiled skins tended to absorb moisture, potentially weakening the bow. Fish were not hard to obtain, as the steppe abounds with rivers and streams, and not a few lakes. Ultimately the quantity of glue used could equal the relative amounts of horn or sinew.

This diagram of a typical Scythian bow shows the extreme recurved shape of the composite bow. This design endured for centuries, until superseded by the Hunnic addition of siha limb extentions.

 The composite bow in cross-section reveals the inner wooden core, with the heavy layer of horn bonded on one side, and several layers of stretched sinew on the other side.

The glue could take up to a year to fully cure. As the sinew and glue dried it tended to shrink, which pre-tensioned the bow. The bow was now heavily reflexed ─ that is, the curvature unstrung was opposite to the curvature when strung. Sinew has high tensile strength, approximately four times more than bow wood ─ some 20kg per square millimetre. This allowed a small bow to be made that was not weaker due to size reduction, and furthermore as the sinew tends strongly to return to its original condition it acted somewhat like a rubber band.

After final shaping, the bow would be bound in some suitable material to protect the horn and particularly the sinew from the elements, most often using leather strips or bark. Today's Mongolian bows use birch bark for the final wrapping. After a very complex and time- consuming process, taking several months, sometimes years, the bow was now complete. Once these disparate materials had been positioned and bonded in place the result was extremely flexible and strong. When drawn, the horn would compress and the sinew would stretch, and both would attempt to return to their original condition. One material was pushing, the other pulling. The composite bow could bend very deeply without failing, resulting in its draw length being longer comparative to its size, which increased the amount of energy that could be stored and therefore the power and speed behind an arrow. The smaller composite bow not only had the power of a much larger self-bow, it was smoother and more efficient, and it could also be left strung for extended periods of time without risk of weakening the bow.

To increase the power potential further, composite bows were recurved in style, with the limbs curved forward at their ends. The recurved ends add to the velocity given to the arrow. This effect was greatly increased later by the addition of wooden or bone siha,1 'ears' set at an angle from the limbs that acted as a lever, causing the limbs to bend around and inward even further, thus maximizing the length of the draw. Possibly a Hun innovation, siha became the norm in composite bows, although the degree of cant and the materials used would differ greatly from people to people.

The Scythian bow featured horn or bone nock-ends attached to each limb. The looped end of the bowstring sat in the groove, the horn providing extra strength to the end of the bow limb, which was under great stress each time the bow was drawn.

To draw a bow there must be a string between both ends, and this has to be of a material that does not easily stretch, and it must be neither too heavy nor too light for the bow. As the string is constantly placed under a great deal of stress, and must not stretch or break, bowstring technology is just as important as the bow itself. Bowstrings were commonly made of animal sinew, horsehair, and perhaps vegetable matter, such as certain vines, and sometimes silk ─ later extensively used by the Turks. Archers always carried one or more spare strings, including for use in differing climatic conditions. For example, horsehair strings are best suited to cold climates unlike leather/sinew strings, which absorb moisture and stretch.

Arrows

There were many arrow types, orignally with heads of stone and bone and increasingly with heads of metal. Arrowheads were chosen depending on the task ─ different arrowheads are required for shooting birds, fish, small and large game, for long-distance shooting or punching through armour.

Ammianus reports that bone arrowheads were common. If correct, this shows their late use on the steppe (Ammianus, 111.2.9). However, bronze arrowheads were widely used for hunting and for war ─ and the variety of metal arrowhead types was staggering, including those that whistled for signalling, those with a groove for poison, and so on. (The Scythians are known to have made poison for their arrows from the venom of a particular kind of snake ─ this was mixed with decaying snake flesh steeped in human blood, and buried in dung until putrefied.)

The standard Scythian bronze arrowhead, today found all over the steppe, was notably small and trilobate (three winged), both with and without barbs. The bronze arrowheads were socketed, so the shaft was inserted into the head. The Turks seem to have made much use of a leaf-shaped arrowhead, and the Hun of a rhomboid design, both usually tanged for sinking into the arrow shaft. Apart from these, the types of arrowhead used across Central Asia varied greatly in design, and most are not easily attributable to any particular people. They may have been a common item of trade, making it even harder to show origin.

This siha limb extension added extra force to the bow limbs when fully drawn, by acting as a kind of lever. This piece is from a Hun burial, Hungary.

The siha were attached by splicing them to the bow limb- The join had to be strong in order for the limb to resist the forces involved in drawing the bow.

The arrow shafts themselves were commonly made of cane or reed, while other woods such as birch and cornel-wood were also employed. Reed arrows would travel further and were easier to make, on the other hand the wooden shafts were less likely to break on impact and might be more easily reusable. The feathers used in fletching the arrow varied, both in type and function, though generally the feathers of water birds such as geese and ducks were preferred. An arrow could be fletched with two to four feathers, and possibly with its flight feathers attached to the shaft in a slight spiral pattern to make the shot more accurate, somewhat like the rifling in a firearm.

For a bow to work effectively the arrow had to be well made ─ for although with skill a bad bow can be made to shoot a good arrow, the reverse is not true. Apart from quality, arrows must also not be too heavy or too light for the bow, or too long or too short for the archer. To ensure good results an archer had matched arrows, made the same way and so with the same properties. However, in battles such as Carrhae (53 BC), where the Parthian archers' arrows were supplied from a central source, there can have been no such matching, and the experience of the archer was necessary to make the necessary adjustments.

Bow range

We are able to know something of the range of ancient bows, thanks to chance archaeological finds and recorded feats. On the Genghis Khan Stone, dating from the early 13th century AD, the archer Esukhei is recorded as having fired a distance of 335 ald in competition in the year 1225, this being around 1,759ft (536m). One and a half thousand years earlier, also using a bow of composite type, a similar result was achieved, at the site of ancient Olbia, a Greek Black Sea colony. A stele of c.300 BC has been found at Olbia that describes the distance-firing feat of a certain Anaxagoras son of Dimagoras ─ some 1,711ft (521.6m).

The distances recorded in these two cases are impressive and instructive. Such distances were clearly feats worthy of memorializing on stone, and indicate the outer range of the earlier Scythian and subsequent Mongolian bows. However, an effective range of around 575ft (175m) was more realistic, and at a distance of 160 to 200ft (50 to 60m), deadly accuracy could be expected. However, the archer was not always trying to achieve 'one shot one kill'. Studies show that while most arrow strikes resulted in at least temporary debilitating injury, only between one in 50 and one in 100 would be fatal outright. This is not a reflection on individual accuracy, but rather because in large-scale battles most arrow strikes were made at random, by arrows fired in volleys, not by an archer carefully picking his target ─ though naturally this skill was put into practice whenever possible. Such firing for effect was a common tactic of the mounted archer, whereby a group of horsemen rode to within their outer bow range and began showering their enemy with arrows, which proved very disconcerting and demoralizing to the enemy.

The steppe archers further mastered the technique of shooting at a fairly high elevation, perhaps as much as 45 degrees, so that arrows fell almost vertically onto the enemy. This was very effective especially where the enemy was encamped, fortified, or otherwise massed in one place.

The draw

The draw is an important skill for an archer to master, for in its accomplishment lies the possibility of accuracy. The Scythians and those steppe peoples that followed almost universally used a thumb-draw, the 'Mongolian draw'. The usual draw in the West was, and is, the 'Mediterranean draw'. This draw is achieved by using the first three fingers of the drawing hand, the forefinger above the nocked arrow and the other two below. This is an effective and simple enough method, and is easily learned. The thumb-draw uses the thumb to pull the bowstring back, with the forefinger in contact with the thumbnail to lock it in place before the release. The thumb-draw is more difficult to learn, but as the nomads were taught it from childhood it must have seemed natural.

With the thumb-draw the arrow is usually shot from the right side of the bow, unlike the Mediterranean draw which shoots the arrow from the left side. The thumb-draw is a faster draw, allowing greater speed of delivery, and it also helps prevent the bowstring bruising the left forearm, which can disrupt the aim. The most important aspect of the development of the thumb-draw, however, has usually passed notice ─ which is that this draw was developed specifically for use with the short composite bow of the mounted archers. When drawing a bow there is always some degree of finger pinch, at the point of full draw when the string is sharply angled. Being made for mounted use, the composite horse bow was inevitably much shorter than a traditional self-bow, resulting in a lot more finger pinch than experienced using a long bow. Apart from being unpleasant, finger pinch is disruptive to the shot, and so the single digit thumb-draw was developed.

The Persians used a distinctive draw of their own. They are depicted in most artwork with their forefingers laid across the arrow, as if pointing the way. This is in fact an important feature of the Persian draw. When using a 'Mongolian draw' some twist is applied to the bow hand, causing the large knuckle of the forefinger to apply pressure to the arrow, holding it in place on the string. The Persians were apparently using their forefingers to achieve the same result and, like the 'Mongolian draw', the Persian method worked to secure the arrow from falling off the bow while riding. The 'Mediterranean draw', however, could not do this, and it remained in use principally by Western foot archers.

To make the thumb-draw smoother, and more comfortable, a thumb ring was used. This could be made of metal, horn, bone, or leather. They were often designed so that the string was hooked into a groove or depression on the inside of the ring, and when the thumb was moved to open the string slid easily out and away. This item, coupled with the more efficient thumb-draw, certainly allowed for a superior loose.

An interesting note on drawing is that the Romans are said to have been second-rate archers because they drew the bow to the centre of the chest, unlike the steppe and Eastern archers, who all drew to the face. Ammianus also commented on this, being very surprised by the length of draw, and the expertise of the release (Ammianus, XXV.1.13). Such a long draw loads the bow with more potential energy and is therefore more powerful. As one sights directly with the eye, as in firearm shooting, it is likely to be accurate as well. The usual draw for Mongolians was further still, past the ear, a considerably more powerful draw

Bow quivers and arrow quivers

Through most of history quivers have been of only a few sorts. The Scythian quiver, however, was unusual and was actually a bow quiver and arrow quiver all in one. The Greeks called this item a gorytos. The bow could be placed in the bow quiver already strung, with about half the bow extending out of the quiver. The goytos hung from a belt hook at the waist, and when mounted the bow would have been easily reached. The arrows were kept in a special pocket on the front of the gorytos. This all-in-one arrangement was peculiar to the Scythians and related peoples, including the early Parthians. Other steppe peoples used a simple container hung from the belt or hung on a strap over the shoulder. However, there were two basic patterns in use across the steppe. The Huns, Avars, and later Mongols used both types, one being tube-like and the other hourglass shaped with a closing flap. The shape of the latter was designed to accommodate the fletching of arrows carried point up for easier arrowhead selection. Quivers were made of perishable materials such as leather, wood, bark, and so on, and few remains survive other than pictorial representations. The strung bow was still kept in a bow quiver, but this was by now a Separate item.

The so-called Lmongolia draw' used the thumb to draw the String back. Not only is the thumb the strongest digit, it is not subject to the ’finger’ pinch, of the ' Mediterranear draw'. There were a number of variations of thumb-draw used by different peoples that varied in the position of the fingers and the angle the hand is held at.

Thumb rings were common all across Eurasia, and could be made of leather, bone horn, metal, and stone. This bronze example has a small knob to which a string was attached and tied around the wrist, to avoid losing the ring.

Most usually it seems the bow was hung in its quiver on the left and the arrow quiver on the right. Pictorial evidence shows arrow quivers hung at various angles or straight up and down, and bow quivers hanging with the bow pointing either to the front or the rear, and it seems that it was a matter of personal choice how the bow and arrows were slung. Unstrung bows might be carried in a long sock-like leather bag, to protect them while travelling about.

The composite bow ─ advantages and development

The Scythian bow, with its smaller construction, made turning about on the horse to shoot to the left or behind considerably easier. This bow dominated steppe archery until the time of the Huns. The Hun bow had siha ears added, set at an extreme angle ─ creating much greater leverage, and adding power to the shot. Most unusually, the Hun bow was often asymmetrical ─ that is, its upper and lower limbs were of an uneven length, the upper being the longer. This design allowed the Hunnic archer a bigger and more powerful bow than the Scythian style, but one that was still not interfered with by the horse and accoutrements. (Interestingly, the only other example of asymmetrical bows was among the Japanese samurai, who were originally also mounted archers.) The Avar modified the Hunnic bow - principally altering the shape and angle of the siha ─ and variations of their design stayed in use for centuries. It was this bow that the Byzantines adopted in the 4th and 5th centuries AD.

A gold quiver facing panel, either Avar or Khazar. This 7th-century find comes from the Pereshchepina Complex, Ukraine. (Photograph courtesy of the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg)

The final stage in development was centuries later in the hands of the Ottoman Turks, settled in their new Anatolian home, who in the 15th and 16th centuries improved on the bow by refining the shape and materials used. Using a special bow, the standing 'flight' record was made by Sultan Selim 111, at 2,917ft (889m).

The bow was an extremely complex, refined, and advanced piece of equipment ─ technologically it was far ahead of its time. The production of it from Turkish times until the present has been in the hands of professional bowyers. However, for most of the history of the composite bow on the steppe it was made by the individual who used it. Every steppe warrior was his own bowyer, fletcher, and repair technician ─ the Muslims who first encountered Turkic horse archers were amazed at their ability to make and repair their own equipment. This level of skill in weapons making was not usually in the hands of the individual warrior in the more sedentary societies on the edges of the steppe. Instead, a man bought or traded for his weaponry, and the degree of wealth determined the quality and type of weapon any individual warrior had. When an item broke or was lost, the warrior sought an expert craftsman to repair or replace it. However, the mounted warriors from the steppe were in this, as in most areas, fully self-sufficient.

The steppe rider was virtually bred for war, some say he was in the saddle before he could even walk, and he received his first, miniature, bow when only five or six years old. As de Bridia pointed out in his Historia Tartarorum, a report of the Carpini mission to the Mongols, the women did all the everyday work, 'while the men make nothing but arrows, and practise shooting with bows. They compel even boys three or four years old to the same exercise, and even some of the women, especially the maidens, practise archery and ride as a rule like men.'

The bow held pride of place among a warrior's possessions, and was at various times, by the Hun and the later Mongols for example, used as a symbol of rank, often covered in gold. In steppe burials, in kurgans (burial mounds), despite the burial of precious stones, gold, even horses, few remains of intact bows have appeared, presumably due to their inherent value. Gold and silver might come and go, but a good bow clearly held inestimable value.

PLATE E: AVARS IN THE BALKANS, 7TH CENTURY AD

Two Avar warriors and a Slavic conscript are leaving camp on a raid. The camp features a typical felt steppe tent, and fireplace. For the first time we start to see stirrups in regular use.

El: Avar nobleman

Avar nobles, like their Hun counterparts, were often wealthy, and were known for luxuriously decorated equipment. This wealthy Avar warrior has an elegant long sword, a belt with gold plates, an elegantly equipped horse, and matching bow and arrow quivers. (Main source: double belt and accoutrements from the grave of an Avar chieftain excavated in Hungary; sword, stirrups, and belt fittings from the Hungarian National Museum.)

E2: Avar warrior

This Avar warrior is equipped in a similar way to his superior, but is clearly less well off. He has a simple iron sword on a separate belt, and is wearing an old Hunnic helmet. He wears simple iron plate shin guards. His archery equipment, however, is of good quality. (Main source: shin guards from a gold plate in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; belt and quiver fittings from the Hungarian National Museum.)

E3: Slavic peasant

This Slavic peasant conscript is dressed in typical pre-Christian 'pagan1-style embroidered wool clothing. His shoes are made of birch bark, and his leggings of wool. He is armed with a typical Slavic knife, a simple spear, and a plain iron helmet. (Main sources: knife from the Hungarian National Museum; clothing from early Russian silver bracelets.)